DR. GERARDO MOLINA is the founder & CEO of sports marketing agency Euromericas. Molina is a sports marketing guru, best-selling author and int'l speaker with experience teaching sports marketing at various universities in Argentina, the U.S. and Germany. Euromericas' headquarters are in Buenos Aires and Cologne, Germany. It has commercial activities in South America, Central America, the Caribbean, the U.S. and Europe. Molinas' Spanish-language best-sellers include "Marketing Deportivo, el Negocio del Deporte y sus Claves" ("Sports Marketing, the Business of Sports and its Keys,") "El poder del Marketing Deportivo" ("The power of Sports Marketing") and "Marketing Deportivo Digital" ("Digital Sports Marketing").

On what first attracted him to the field of sports marketing ...Molina: My two great loves are the joy of playing sports and studying science communication and marketing. Sports marketing attracted me because it is the right fusion of my two passions. The everyday management as CEO of the company is about being passionate about the major sports markets in the world where we have offices.

On what Euromericas aims to accomplish ...Molina: Euromericas is the leading company in the Americas today, from Mexico to the southern continent, with a presence in the Andean Region and Central America & Caribbean. Our global positioning places us among the top 10 companies. What we want in the company is to continue creating new rules in the sports industry with new innovation as we have done until now. Another aspect we are looking to continue is growing in the area of educational training in the Americas and Europe, where we have created programs with universities and sports business academy centers. Euromericas Sport Marketing aims to continue growing from its global network and consolidate in the current markets and reach new markets such as Asia, and grow even more in Europe and the United States.

On how he compares the differences between what makes a brand attractive in Latin America with what appeals to European clients ...Molina: The digital agency or interactive sports marketing versus traditional agencies is an obsolete model. The message of a brand in a campaign in the world of sports has to be one single idea. Sport has no borders. It is a universal language. Euromericas thinks that the purpose of business is to manage the passion in partnership with companies with multiple commercial industries. No commercial and media brands, no sport in any instance of the society. Private investment is the only way out for supporters to love more teams and athletes. The market is famous and popular only when linked to sport. It is the answer to a connected society. The added value offered is Euromericas invents new, original and sexy experiences.

On what companies he will be watching most closely to monitor their marketing/sponsorship campaigns during the World Cup ...Molina: Companies should know that marketing and publicity campaigns, regardless of the explosion of social networks, do not make sense in this era. Digital marketing facilitates control of all business activities. A good digital application, or app, is the key to attract the sport millions of new customers. The campaigns focused on the new technology platforms that are regulated alone generate sales and achieve scale as never before in the history of sports. The utility is the fundamental value of the 21st century. In the era of impatience, where lives are complicated, consumers crave simple things. In a sports world that is constantly changing and is more interconnected every day, companies need a deeper understanding of human behavior to find their target. What we find fascinating in Euromericas is the implementation of ideas in digital, automatic ability to measure its impact. When an idea comes to people in strong social networks, the effect can be measured in real time.

On what sport other than football he sees emerging in Latin America over the next decade as the most lucrative for sponsors ...Molina: We see that in Latin America the most lucrative sports in the coming years will be basketball, tennis, volleyball, athletics, golf, rugby, polo and racing. Trends in popular sports of the future influence the younger generations. Euromericas Sport Marketing likes to think of the millennial movement as not only a question of age, but of vital and cultural perception.

Australian Grand Prix Chair RON WALKER "is to step down from the post after 22 years, as part of an overhaul of the event," according to Peter Rolfe of the HERALD SUN. The former lord mayor and Crown co-founder "will officially retire from the job he has held since 1994 after next year’s 20th Formula One race at Albert Park, when the current contract is due to expire." Walker said, “I’m 75 this year and it’s good governance to let someone fresh take the reins.’’ Walker, 74, has hand-picked his replacement -- Cricket World Cup CEO JOHN HARNDEN -- "and the decision has been ratified by the Grand Prix Corporation board." Walker, who is also chairman of the popular MotoGP at Phillip Island, said Harnden had been a “very able deputy chairman’’ and was “the next generation" (HERALD SUN, 3/20).

Second Bundesliga club Dynamo Dresden Supervisory Board member THOMAS DATHE announced that he will resign from his position at the end of his term. The 47-year-old has held the position since March '11 (Dynamo Dresden). ... Australian Grand Prix Chair RON WALKER "is to step down from the post after 22 years, as part of an overhaul of the event." Walker, 74, has hand-picked his replacement -- Cricket World Cup CEO JOHN HARNDEN -- "and the decision has been ratified by the Grand Prix Corporation board" (HERALD SUN, 3/20).

Spain's Athletics Discipline Committee decided to "absolve runner MARTA DOMÍNGUEZ of the IAAF's accusations that she violated anti-doping regulations." This "puts an end to an eight-month process" (EFE, 3/20). ... U.S. Anti-doping Agency CEO TRAVIS TYGART said that USAIN BOLT "is being failed by Jamaican athletics chiefs." Jamaican athletics "has recently come under global pressure to revamp its under-fire drugs testing regime following a number of high-profile cases." Tygart believes that the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association’s lack of action "only serves to condemn stars like Bolt to doubts and scrutiny of his stunning sprint record." Tygart said, "It’s really unfair to question athletes’ performances just because of an inspiration story or whatever it may be, there’s a legal process for that. That said, it happens unfortunately, and I think it’s really unfair to those athletes that it does happen" (London DAILY MAIL, 3/20). ... DAVID BECKHAM "has taken part in a two-week expedition through Brazil’s Amazon rainforest" for a TV documentary. The former England captain "was accompanied by three friends and a film-maker" for the program, which will be broadcast by the BBC in June, ahead of the World Cup in Brazil (IANS, 3/20). ... German Olympic combined champion MARIA HÖEFL-RIESCH "ended her Alpine skiing career on Thursday," quitting a month after adding a third Gold Medal to her collection. The four-time Olympic medalist said that "she initially thought of skiing for one more season" after winning Gold and Silver at the Sochi Winter Games (REUTERS, 3/20). ... The Badminton Association of Malaysia has "been forced to switch to Plan B" after DATUK MISBUN SIDEK turned down its offer to become the coaching director of the national team. Plan B is "basically reverting" to its original coaching structure "of appointing one chief coach each for the singles and doubles departments" (THE STAR, 3/20).